Chicago Bears: 11 years later, it’s time to appreciate Jay Cutler

Cutler was supposed to solve everything

When the Chicago Bears made the trade for Cutler, then a 25-year-old stud coming off of his first Pro Bowl in Denver, expectations were that the futility at the quarterback position would end. To that point (and even still today), the Chicago Bears have never had a quarterback throw for 4,000 yards or throw for more than 30 touchdowns.

Cutler came unbearably (pun intended?) close in 2014, getting benched in the penultimate game of the season. Despite nearly doubling most of the Bears’ franchise records, he’s still bracketed right alongside the Matt Barkleys and Caleb Hanies of the world. But how fair is that?

At peak powers, Cutler was able to command the league’s No. 2 offense (27.8 points per game) in 2013. But for the most part, Bears offenses with Cutler under center were merely average. By today’s standards, that would be a breath of fresh air, though. Consider the following chart.

If Chicago fans can’t appreciate what Cutler did during his playing career, odds are, they can at least appreciate what we would probably mean for today’s team. We saw what even a pre-prime Cutler was able to do with an elite defense.

From 2010 to 2012, Cutler produced just enough offensive juice to push the Chicago Bears to a 27-13 record. That rounds out to nearly 11 wins over a 16-game season. And for reference, here are the only quarterbacks to coax a higher win percentage over that three-year span: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, and Matt Ryan.